Creating inspiring spaces in our homes

Having a place to call home is meaningful to most of us. As a poetic ideal, it’s a welcoming environment where we can slip into baggy pants at the end of the day and leave the mad world behind to “just be” without pretense. It’s a place where we can rest, recover and recharge ourselves, as well as our smart phones.

In actuality, home tends to be a lot less serene than that. The commitments we make on every front clamor day and night for our attention. Our addictions to noise and technologies combined with our go-go-go lifestyles take a significant toll. Unless we deliberately cultivate a special environment within it, our homes become an extension of our outside world—a kaleidoscope of physical and mental busyness.

Home as a sanctuary

“If we recognize the benefits of having home serve as a personal sanctuary and refuge, then we need a strong intention to claim it as such,” says Laury Naron, psychotherapist and Andian energy healer. “We give ourselves a special gift, if we know we can regain equilibrium and reconnect with our true selves once we walk through our front door.”

Creating a designated place at home to soothe our body, mind and soul doesn’t require a big financial investment or the help of an architect or interior designer. There is no need for our restorative area to be elaborate, expensive or grand.

“My sacred space is a corner area of my bedroom near a window, where I can see nature—the changing sky, trees, a hawk soaring. Most importantly, I have an agreement with myself that I do not do head work there, and I stick with it,” Laury shares.

Other than feeling good to us, there is no right or wrong way to design a contemplative corner, personal altar, or cozy nook at home. Inspiring personal spaces, small and large, come into existence easily when we simply connect from the heart with the things that give us joy.

“Avoid the trap of holding off to make an honored space in your home until it is perfect—forget it!” Laury laughs. “Gather a few things together that you love and call that your beginning. Then add and revise as objects speak to you,” she said. As an intimate expression of our inner self, our special space can be expected to evolve as we do.